University of Galway to welcome more than 3,500 new students

University of Galway has issued offers to 3,753 prospective students for the 2024/25 academic year.

Following Round One of the Central Applications Office (CAO) process, President of University of Galway Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh and Deputy President and Registrar Professor Peter McHugh acknowledge the effort and achievement of the Leaving Certificate class of 2024, the vast majority of whom were sitting state exams for the first time.

Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President of University of Galway, said: "Comhghairdeas to the Leaving Cert class of 2024 as they embark on the next stage of their studies. They have displayed good judgment in choosing University of Galway. They can be assured that this and their experiences to date will stand them in good stead as the next adventure begins at University of Galway."

University of Galway Deputy President and Registrar Professor Peter McHugh said: "Each and every student who has navigated the post-primary years and the Leaving Cert deserves a huge welcome from University of Galway, particularly those who endured the impact of the pandemic in their schooldays, and they can be assured of an unrivalled student experience at the University.

"Our admissions and registration team at the University of Galway is once again doing stellar work to facilitate such huge numbers of students who have applied to join us. In that context, we also welcome the Government commitment to begin to address the issue of inflated grades in the Leaving Cert."

On the back of a fourth year in a row of significant demand for places in third level education, University of Galway is offering 3,753 places for first year undergraduate students.

The following are some of the key trends following the issuing of Round One offers in the CAO process:

• Cut-off levels for points for University of Galway degrees showed mixed movement with almost a third of courses increasing points or remaining steady.
• Some 40% of the University's degree programmes are between the 500-600 points range.
• An increase of 41 points for Arts (Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies) reflecting a significant increase in demand and University of Galway's continued reputation as an international centre for the creative arts, as well as the value of our strategic education partnerships with Galway International Arts Festival and Druid.
• Some of University of Galway's programmes that offer extensive Erasmus opportunities saw an increase in points; BA Global Languages, BComm International (Spanish) and BSc Biotechnology.
• All Engineering and Law programmes continue to cut-off at 500 CAO points or above.
• Flagship programmes for University of Galway which continue to attract strong demand are Biomedical Engineering, with points increasing to 578 (up 30), and Biomedical Science, at 577 (up 10 points).
• Medicine remains random allocation at 728 points.
• The number of places available for students seeking to study Occupational Therapy and Speech and Language Therapy degrees are up by almost 50% - that is an additional 30 places across the two programmes, which follows a Government announcement of increased funding in these areas.
• Five out of eight Commerce programmes require more than 500 points.

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